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What does the Bible say about racism, prejudice, and discrimination?
The first thing we need to agree upon when talking talking about this topic is that there is really only one race—the human race. For example, Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Indians, Arabs, and Jews are not different races; they are different ethnicities within the one human race. Other than minor variations, all human beings have the same basic physical traits, and every person is made in the image and likeness of God Himself (Genesis 1:26-27).
How cool is that? We get to have similar characteristics as God, such as creativity and having a spirit. And He loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to lay down His life for us. When John 3:16 refers to the "world," it is talking about the entire human race—all ethnic groups, religions, subcultures, and social cliques included.
Racism is nothing new
Sadly, racism has been a plague on humanity for thousands of years. In the first half of the Bible, the Old Testament, God divided humanity into two groups: Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were an ethnic group of people descendent from Jacob. A Gentile was, well, everyone else. God intended for the Jews to lovingly minister to the Gentiles in a way that honored and glorified Him. Instead, the Jewish people mostly became prideful of the status God had given them and ended up hating the Gentiles. Thankfully, Jesus Christ put an end to this, breaking down the dividing wall of hatred between the two ethnicities (Ephesians 2:14).
Jesus died for everyone
Jesus says to love one another as He loves us (John 13:34). If God is unbiased and loves us equally without showing favoritism, then we need to love others in the same way. It doesn't matter what people were raised to believe, where their family came from, how they act, or even who they're dating. Jesus loved everyone and died for them ALL.
This may sound like a tall order, and, yes, it is. Loving everybody equally is not something we can do by our own strength, but with Christ, we can. Because love is a Somebody, and that Somebody is Jesus, Jesus alone can teach us love and help us to love others more as we grow to know and love Him.
Take a minute to read Matthew 25. Jesus is teaching that whatever we do to the least of His brothers, we do to Him. Basically, if you show hatred or racism/prejudice/discrimination to any person, it is like we are disrespecting God Himself. Why? Because He made that person in His image, He loves that person too, and that person was equally important to Jesus—important enough to die on the cross in their place.
God doesn't play favorites
Yes, racism and prejudice are a reality, but it isn't how life should be. God is not biased and doesn't show partiality or favoritism (Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9), so we shouldn't either. James 2:4 talks about people who discriminate as "judges with evil thoughts." This is where that dandy Golden Rule comes in. Did you know it originates from the Bible? God tells us to treat others as we'd like to treated, or, "love our neighbors as ourselves" (James 2:8).
Every form of racism, prejudice, or discrimination, whether it seems big or small, is a sin and yet another reason why Jesus was nailed to the cross.
If you are a victim of racism, prejudice, or discrimination…
If you have been the object of racial hate, prejudice, or discrimination, you must forgive those who have hurt you. Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." We may not think racists deserve our forgiveness, but we didn't deserve Christ's forgiveness either. Though He was beaten, tortured, and strung up to die a painful death, He still willingly and lovingly said, "Father, forgive them!"